More than 2.2 million people have signed up for this year’s 30-Day Bible Challenge as readers around the world search the Bible for hope and healing.
By EEW Magazine Online Editors
Natalie, a 31-year-old tech programmer from New York, stood in Times Square on Sunday night with three friends as Scripture and messages encouraging Bible reading filled the digital screens overhead. From 8 to 9 p.m., about 30 ministry partners and leaders were featured on the LED displays. “I feel inspired, excited and more fired up for evangelism than ever,” Natalie said.
EEW Magazine Online New York correspondent Elaine Peterson, who was in the crowd, saw people hugging, crying and praying together. “The atmosphere was electric as crowds were united in joy, prayer and the mission to share the hope of the Gospel,” Peterson said. “It was a beautiful sight in these distressing, divisive times in the world.”
The Nov. 1 displays marked the start of Global Bible Month, a worldwide campaign that invites people to read Scripture every day through November. Similar displays appeared in London’s Piccadilly Circus and the Dotonbori District in Osaka, Japan. By Nov. 2, more than 2.2 million people had signed up for this year’s 30-Day Bible Challenge, according to YouVersion figures reported by Church Tech Today.
Crowds gather in New York’s Times Square on Nov. 1, 2026, beneath a Bible App display featuring Pastor Philip Anthony Mitchell of Atlanta’s 2819 Church, at the start of Global Bible Month. Photo: Kayla Madonna
The campaign is powered by YouVersion, the digital ministry of Life.Church behind the Bible App. In October, YouVersion reported that “anxiety,” “hope” and “healing” ranked among its most-searched terms of 2026. The single most-searched term was “Psalm 91.”
The psalm opens with a promise of shelter under the Almighty. In its second verse, the writer declares, “I will say of the LORD, ‘He is my refuge and my fortress, my God, in whom I trust’” (NIV).
“This year, we’ve been encouraged by how many people are turning to Scripture for answers to their questions,” said Bobby Gruenewald, founder and CEO of YouVersion.
Psalm 91, the most-searched term in the Bible App this year, calls the Lord a refuge and a fortress. Photo: Life.Church
Global Bible Month began in 2025, when YouVersion and partners including Glorify, Hallow and BibleProject marked one billion installs across its Bible apps. More than 2.6 million people took the first 30-Day Bible Challenge, and daily Bible use rose 19% over November 2024, according to YouVersion.
YouVersion now reports 18.5 million daily users worldwide, up more than 13% from 2025. Its apps offer about 3,800 Bible versions in 2,400 languages. Some of the highest engagement is in sub-Saharan Africa, where daily use of its apps rose 63% this year.
South Africa ranks among the top five countries in the world for daily engagement on YouVersion’s apps, and the ministry opened a regional hub in Cape Town this year.
This year’s campaign runs through Nov. 30. It brings together churches, ministries, Bible societies, publishers and retailers including Walmart, Hobby Lobby and Mardel.
Participants are encouraged to read daily, in print or through an app. Bible App users can track their progress, follow friends taking the challenge and earn a badge for completing it. Churches are encouraged to preach a November series on the impact of Scripture.
Empowering Everyday Women Ministries, Inc., the nonprofit behind EEW Magazine Online, is taking part through its Bibles for Orphans outreach. The program has distributed 1,500 Bibles to orphanages across South Africa, including in Gauteng province, and is working toward a goal of 5,000.
“We work with local organizations, ministries and partners around the world to place Bibles in the hands of children who need to know how deeply their Heavenly Father loves them,” said Monica Achebe, global liaison for EEW Ministries.
“We hear heartbreaking stories of children who have lost their mothers, including those left behind by maternal deaths,” Achebe said. “Our mission is to make sure these children have access to the Gospel and understand that they have not been forgotten. Every child deserves to know they are loved and precious in God’s sight.”
The loss of mothers is a major crisis across the region. In 2023, sub-Saharan Africa accounted for roughly 70% of the world’s maternal deaths, an estimated 182,000 women, according to the World Health Organization.
A gift of $5 provides a Bible for one child. The 30-Day Bible Challenge is open to anyone at globalbiblemonth.com. To give a Bible to a child through Bibles for Orphans, visit EmpoweringEverydayWomen.org.
Elaine Peterson contributed reporting from New York.
Disclosure: EEW Magazine Online is a platform of Empowering Everyday Women Ministries, Inc.
